1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to supplying power to one or more electrical loads. More specifically, this invention relates to managing the supply of power to one or more loads in a limited power environment.
2. Description of the Related Art
Transportation systems, such as an aircraft, a ship, or a train, typically provide only a limited supply of power. This power supply serves not only those systems that are essential, but non-essential equipment as well. In an aircraft, for example, the propulsion system provides a finite amount of power to operate both essential equipment, such as life-support, communication, and flight control, and non-essential equipment, such as coffee makers, in-flight commercial phones, and in-seat entertainment centers.
Because power is limited, non-essential equipment must compete with other non-essential equipment for power. If the load from non-essential equipment exceeds the allowable load, some essential equipment may be deprived of power. Furthermore, the power supply itself may be damaged from the additional loads.
Conventional power monitoring systems measure the amount of power being drawn from a power supply. When the amount of power being drawn from the power supply exceeds a limit, these power monitoring systems determine which equipment to turn off or cause the equipment to enter power saving modes. These techniques of monitoring and adjusting power requirements of load are commonly referred to as "load-shedding."
Load-shedding systems typically require a controller to individually communicate whether a load is to be shed or reconfigured. In such systems, each load can be provided its own communication control line or all of the loads can be daisy chained.
Some load monitoring systems allow a plurality of load control units to determine which loads to shed or reconfigure based on a consumption rate broadcast from a control monitoring processor.
Conventional power monitoring and control systems are complex and typically involve a priority scheme based on load importance.
Accordingly, a load distribution and management system is needed that prevents excessive power consumption while maximizing availability of power to simultaneous loads.
Furthermore, a load distribution and management system is needed that prevents additional load from coming on-line until additional power is available and does not need to shed current loads.